A Key From the Past
by Wrenlet
Summary: A destroyed mansion, a new student with a mysterious past, and a scorching XANA attack. What will become of it all? Is the new student's past the key to shutting down XANA for good? The final chapter is up! Read and rate, please!
1. A Gloomy Beginning

**Hello **Author's note.

_Hello_ Someone's thoughts/flashback.

"Hello" Someone speaking.

**Disclaimer - I do not own Code Lyoko.**

**Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic that I have ever written. -starts hyperventilating- This chapter is a bit short, but I will try to make the next chapter longer. ) Many, many, thanks to my wonderful friend, Lily Brown. You're the best editor I could ever ask for.**

Chapter I: A Gloomy Beginning

Annabella glared up at the sky as she trudged alongside her father up the sidewalk to Kadic Academy. The sky was grey and gloomy, a bad omen. Annabella glanced up at her father who offered a fake reassuring smile.

Annabella had always been intelligent, perhaps sometimes too intelligent for her own good, which is why she had been dubbed the "Einstein" of her former school. She and her father had been extraordinarily close, but after her mother's death, her father's heart turned cold, and he started blaming Annabella for her mother's death. They had lived in a wealthy mansion on the outskirts of town, and Annabella had gone to a private school. That is,until the mansion caught on fire, and her father lost his job. Annabella's father couldn't afford to live there anymore, so they had to move to a dingy apartment in the city.

Suddenly, her father stopped in his tracks. Annabella followed his gaze and found herself looking at an old, crumbling, unwelcoming building.

They had arrived at Kadic Academy.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Odd, Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita were forced to sit through anotherone of Mrs. Hertz's tedious classes. Aelita and Jeremie were alert, taking notes, Odd was asleep, and Ulrich was staring out the window, as usual. That's when Ulrich noticed two figures heading towards the main building.

Odd was awakened by a sharp jab in the side from Ulrich's pencil. "Ouch!" Odd exclaimed, "What'd ya do that for?" He cursed silently under his breath as he rubbed his aching side.

"Shhhh, keep it down, will ya?" Ulrich whispered. Then, he gestured towards the window, "Look." Odd looked out the window. "I don't see anything," he muttered.

"Boys!" Mrs. Hertz shrilled, "Is there something that you would like to share with the class?"

"No, ma'am," they replied in unison. Just then, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. The students stampeded out of the classroom, almost trampling Mrs. Hertz. "Remember, we have a test on Friday!"

"Yum, meatballs and gravy," Odd said as the four teens wound their way through the lunch line. They found their seats, and soon after, they were joined by a tall, Japanese girl.

Yumi greeted them with her usual, "Hey, guys!" and set her tray down next to Aelita's.

"Oomick mmsh kee mmaw gnneef oomph," Odd declared through a mouthful of food. Everyone ignored him, not wanting to bother translating what he said and started chatting about the latest XANA attack.

"Possessed frogs? I mean, what are they going to do, ribbit at me?" Ulrich questioned scornfully. "I think XANA is starting to slip," added Jeremie, "His attacks are getting more and more featherbrained." The group nodded in agreement. Just then, their conversation was interrupted by a voice that sounded like nails scraping against a chalkboard. "Ulllriiiich, dear!"

Sissi and her posse had stuck again! Dun, dun, duuuun! **(Heehee, sorry, couldn't resist…)**

"What do you want, Sissi?" Ulrich queried with a surge of annoyance in his voice. Sissi smirked, "Oh, nothing, Ulrich, dear. I was just wondering if you wanted to go out to the movies tonight. You know, just you and me."

"I would rather go on a date with a crazed pig, not that there's a whole lot of difference," Ulrich replied with a bored expression on his face. That sent the group into peals of laughter.

"Hmph!" Sissi turned on her heel and stalked off with her little posse in tow.

Ulrich leaned back in his chair, folded his hands behind his head, and sighed contentedly, "Ah, there isn't anything as satisfying as making fun of Sissi."

Aelita giggled and stood up, "I have to go finish my report for Mrs. Hertz. See you all later!"

Soon after she left, Yumi checked her watch. "Uh-oh, we're gonna be late for class if we don't hurry."

**I hope everyone liked it! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Three Friendly Faces

**Hey everyone! Thanks to those who actually reviewed! I was totally psyched when I got my first review! Sorry, but this is also going to be a short chapter… I promise the next chapter will be a lot longer and more interesting. I have the mighty plotline to guide me! -triumphant music-**

Chapter II: Three Friendly Faces

Annabella took a deep breath and closed her eyes. _Everything's going to be OK,_ she told herself. She opened her eyes again, shifted her only duffle bag from one shoulder to the other, re-gripped the handle on her guitar case, and she and her father headed through the rusty gates.

As they headed across the grounds to the main building, Annabella thought she saw an inquisitive face peering out from one of the windows. The face belonged to a boy about her age with brown hair, but she was too far away topick outany other details. She did a double-take, but the face was gone. Sheheaved a big sighdragged herself on.

Once Annabella and her father reached the building, her father turned and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Now Annabella, I have to leave you know because I have some important business to attend to. Be a good girl while I'm gone, promise?" Annabella's green eyes burned with hatred mixed withsadnessas she whispered, "I promise." She stared after father as he disappeared into the distance. When he was gone she turned to face the building looming in front of her. She sighed and pushed her way through the old wooden doors.

Ms. Weber, the school secretary, looked up from her paperwork as she heard footstepspattering down the hall in her direction. Not long after, a girl of about 14 peered around the doorway.

"Ah, you must be the new student! Please, come in." The girl stepped shyly around the door and up to the secretary's desk. "I'm Ms. Weber. Name, please." "Annabella Rednamalas,"the girlsaid quietly. Ms. Weber scrolled down the list until she reached her name. "Ah, there you are. Here is your room key and a map."

_Boy, this school is huge!_ Annabella mentally exclaimed as she studied the map. Then, suddenly remembering her manners, she muttered a quick "Thanks." Annabella carefully folded her map, and stuffed it in her already-overflowing duffle bag. She headed off towards the dormitories, curious to see who her new roommate was. Annabella shoved her key into the lock and opened the door. It was a small room, yet big enough for two twin-sizedbeds, two small metalwardrobes, and two desks. Annabella dumped her bag onto the bed and took out her schedule. She studied it carefully and stuffed it into her jeans pocket. Tiredness overtook her, and she flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

_Why did this have to happen? Why do I have to be here? I just want to go back to the way things used to be._

Annabella groaned inwardly and stood up. She decided to unpack, figuring she would only have to do it later if she put it off. She took what little she had, since the fire had consumed most of her possessions, and placed them all neatly inside the wardrobe. The last item she took out of her bag was a picture enclosed in a silver frame. It was a picture of her and all of her friends grinning crazily. Annabella half-laughed half-sobbed as she recalled the day when they had taken that picture. It was one of the happiest days of her life.She carefully placed it on the desk that was untouched. Annabella looked fondly at it for a moment, but was startled out of her thoughts as someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Yikes!" she shrieked leaping up 10 feet in the air. Annabella whirled around, coming face-to-face with a pink-haired girl about her age.Annabella noticed that the girl had on a bright pink jumper withmatchingwinter boots."Hi! You must be my new roommate," the girl with the strange colored hair smiled, "I'm Aelita. I was just popping in for a second to get my report for Mrs. Hertz, and then I'm off to the library."

Annabella gave one of her rare half-smiles. _Finally, someone my age who is friendly._ "I'm Annabella."

Aelita grinned, "What classes do you have?" Annabella handed over her schedule. Aelita's eyes whizzed over the paper. "Great! We have all of the same classes! Ugh, we have Mrs. Hertz next. By the way, where are you from?" Annabella stared at her scuffed-up shoes. She really didn't like talking about her past. "Around here, I guess," was all the pink-haired girl could get out of her new roommate.

Aelita checked her watch. "Oh my! Class starts in fifteen minutes. We'd better hurry!" she said as she bolted out the door before Annabella could ask where exactly Mrs. Hertz's room was.

She sighed. _Well, I guess I have to depend on the map, now…_ Annabella yanked the map out of her duffle bag with trembling hands. The first day in a new school is always nerve-racking. She walked out of the room humming quietly to herself. Humming always helped her calm down.

_Take a left here, then a right, then down the stai-- "_OOF!" Suddenly, Annabella found herself on the ground and rubbed her aching shoulder, whilewondering what she had run into. She got to her feet and found herself looking into the face of the boythat lookedlike the one shehad seen looking out the window earlier that day. "Sorry," she mumbled.

The boy chuckled, "Lemme guess… You're new here, right?" Annabella only nodded. "I'm Ulrich Stern," said the boy. "Annabella," she replied.

"Oh man!" said Ulrich smacking himself on the head, "I promised I would go meet my friends somewhere." He took off down the hallway before another word could be passed between them.

_Geez, what is it with people and running off today?_

By the time she had finally found her class, which was 20 minutes later, the tardy bell had rung. _Ohhhh maaan… Late to my first class on my first day…_

Annabella closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She reached a trembling hand up to the door and gave a soft knock. No reply. She tried again, and that time she was more successful.

**Muhaha! Small cliffie! Dun dun duuuun! Please review this. All it takes is one simple sentence stating whether you like it or not. I want to know whether I am doing ok, or that I should drop my pencil and abandon this story before I do any more damage. Capeesh?**


	3. A Bittersweet Welcoming

**Thanks so much for reviewing! My goal for the next chapter is at least 6 reviews… Sorry for the shortness of the last two chapters. I made this one a little longer.**

Chapter III: A Bittersweet Welcoming

The door swung open. A middle-aged woman, who Annabella figured was Mrs. Hertz, poked her head out the door. "Ah, yes," announced Mrs. Hertz turning back to the class, "We have a new student." Heads turned as the teacher ushered the new student in.

Ulrich P.O.V.

The new student looked totally and completely helpless as she was brought into the room by Mrs. Hertz's death grip. The teacher placed the new arrival in the middle of the classroom, and I recognized her as the student who I had bumped into in the hall earlier. She was abnormally tall, with a long braid of red hair running down her back. The new student had really freaky bright green eyes that were transfixed on her shoes as if she was trying to make them tap dance with her mind.

Odd elbowed me in the side and snickered. He pulled out a straw and blew a spitball towards the new student, but it missed its target.

"Go on, introduce yourself," Mrs. Hertz urged. The student mumbled something inaudible while still staring hard at her shoes. "Come on, speak up!" the teacher barked. Mrs. Hertz was starting to lose her patience.

"Annabella Rednamalas," the girl said, more audibly that time. "Thank you, Miss Rednamalas. You may take your seat. There is an empty one next to Tania."

As Annabella headed to her new seat, Sissi stuck out her foot with a malicious grin, and Annabella tumbled to the floor with books and papers flying everywhere. The classroom shook with mocking laughter.

Regular P.O.V.

Annabella could feel the heat rising to her face as she scrambled about, picking up loose papers and books. When she finally got seated, the whole entire class was staring at her. Annabella sank in her chair. She wanted to cry. _Annabella, look at yourself. You're going to cry just because of a little humiliation? Get a grip and pay attention, _she mentally chided herself. She had to endure this torture for another 35 minutes until the bell rang. _It's about time,_ Annabella mentally grumbled as she gathered her books and headed out of the classroom.

"Hey, Annabella," said a mocking high-pitched voice. Annabella didn't even care to see who it was. She just kept a steady face and started to walk faster. As soon as she got outside, she broke into a run and headed for the woods. Annabella didn't stop until she had run out of breath. She sat at the base of a tree and got out a small, black book and started sketching a fierce-looking dragon.

Annabella had always loved dragons, and when she was younger, she imagined she had one of her own. Annabella hummed as she drew, a habit she had vowed to break herself of, but never did. She finished the general outline of her dragon and sat back. _When does dinner start anyway?_ Annabella checked her watch. It was 4:32, and dinner started at 6:30. _One hour and 58 more minutes to go…_

She looked back down at her drawing. To the average person, it might have looked perfect, but in Annabella's eyes, there were lots of flaws. Annabella spoke to herself as she corrected them. That was another of her many habits that she had yet to break.

Yumi P.O.V.

_Where the heck are they? They said they would meet me here… _I was very disgruntled as I combed the woods for my friends. _Whoa. I haven't seen her before, _I thought as I spotted a girl sitting against a tree and sketching in her notebook. The girl wore a troubled expression as she fussed over the details of her sketch. "No, no, the wing is too big… Ack, there's only three talons on this claw, but there's four on the rest. Better fix that…"

I crept up behind the girl, looked over her shoulder, and stared open-mouthed. _Wow, she can really draw!_

_"_Wow. That's really good," I remarked. The girl turned as pale as a ghost and jumped about a foot in the air. She glanced up to see a Japanese girl clad in all black looking over her shoulder while leaning against the tree.

"You're new here, right?" I questioned. The girl nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to meet my friends… If I can find them. Oh, and by the way, the name's Yumi," I said. "I'm Annabella," replied the girl as she closed her notebook and squeezed it into her messenger bag.

Regular P.O.V.

The two raced back to the courtyard, and when they reached their destination, they sat on a bench to rest for a few minutes. Still no sign of Yumi's friends. Annabella noticed that the air had really gotten really warm. She absent-mindedly rolled up her sleeves, but instantly regretted doing so. Yumi gasped as she saw cuts and bruises running up and down Annabella's arms.

"What happened!" Yumi queried. _Stupid, Annabella, stupid! Why did you have to roll up your sleeves? Now I'll be asked a bunch of questions, and I'm not in the mood to talk about it._ Annabella stared at the ground and muttered, "I… uh… fell out of a tree…" Yumi knew that Annabella wasn't telling the truth. Nobody could get _that_ many cuts and bruises by merely falling out of a tree. But before Yumi could question her further, a group of teens came running up to greet them.

"Sorry we're late," said a short boy with one big spike of blonde hair with a purple dot in the middle, "Jeremie thinks he found the solution to Aelita's anti-vi-- OUCH!" The person responsible for elbowing him was a boy with a blue turtleneck and a pair of round glasses that were in danger of falling off the tip of his nose.

The victim yelled, "What the heck did you do that for, Jeremie!" Then he spotted Annabella who was looking completely confused. He uttered a tiny "oh" and fell silent.

Yumi stood up, trying to cover the awkward silence. "Annabella, these are my friends. This is Jeremie," she said pointing to the blonde boy with the blue turtleneck and the large, round glasses. "This is Odd," she said pointing to the boy with the huge spike of blonde hair with the purple dot in the middle. He was wearing purple duds with a pinkish undershirt. "This is Ulrich," She said pointing to a boy with dark brown hair. He was wearing a khaki-colored shirt with a green over shirt and pants. Annabella recognized him as the boy she had run into earlier that day. "And this is Aelita," she said pointing to the girl with the bubblegum pink hair. Of course, Annabella recognized Aelita immediately because she was her roommate.

The heat was starting to really get to Annabella. Her fingers itched to roll up her sleeves, but she already knew the consequences of doing so. _This is really some strange weather. Usually it's cooler and more windy at this time of year…_ The group stood around and talked about the latest Subsonics concert, while Annabella mainly listened. Sweat was rolling down her neck. _Has anybody noticed how hot it is out here? _she wondered.

"Hey, is anyone up for soccer?" blurted out Odd. His question was answered with a chorus of ok's and heck yeah's. When they reached the field, they divided into two teams, Odd, Yumi, and Annabella against Jeremie, Ulrich, and Aelita.

_"_Ok, guys," Ulrich shouted, "On my count! One, two, three!" Odd raced up to kick the ball. He dribbled it up the field, but, of course, it got stolen by Ulrich. "Hey, Aelita!" Ulrich yelled as he passed the ball to Aelita, but it was intercepted by Yumi. "Here, Annabella!" Yumi passed the ball to Annabella. Annabella had never played soccer in her life, and it showed. Terribly. Annabella tried desperately to pass the ball. Unfortunately for her team, it got intercepted, again, by Ulrich, and he scored a goal.

Odd stopped in the middle of the game and complained, "Hey guys, it's 6:30, and I'm hungry." "You're always hungry," retorted Jeremie, but Odd didn't hear him because he had already ran ahead to the cafeteria.

Annabella felt light-headed at the sudden change of temperature as she walked through the doors and into the cool air of the cafeteria. Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, Aelita, and Annabella got in the dinner line, and the lunch lady slopped a U.F.O. (unidentifiable food object) onto each of their trays. _Ugh, they actually call this food? _Annabella wrinkled her nose in disgust as she sat the tray down next to Aelita's. She had barely seated herself when Odd spoke up.

"Hey, Annabella, are you going to eat that?" Annabella stared in disbelief. _How could any human digest such filth? _She pushed her tray forward and stared in awe as Odd gobbled down the mess of brownish-gray that had settled into a mold on her tray.

Yumi laughed at the look of bewilderment on her face. "Odd is the human garbage disposal," she clarified with a small chuckle, "He eats whatever we push in front of him."

"I think I'm going to back to my room," Annabella stated. The group waved and said goodbye as she pushed her way out the cafeteria doors. All at once, a wave of heat washed over hear, almost knocking her to the ground. Annabella ran until she reached the door of the dorms, yanked it open, and stumbled onto the ground. She was dizzy and almost fell over again as she tried to stand. _Ooooh… My head… What the heck is wrong with me! _She stumbled up the stairs and walked down the seemingly endless corridor. Annabella unlocked the door to her dorm, fell onto her bed, and was asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.

**Well, there it is… Please review! I would like it very much! In fact, I don't think I'm going to update until I get some more reviews. The next chapter is going to be very interesting… A bunch of things will be revealed!**


	4. The Dream

**Aw man! One review short! Oh well, I couldn't wait any longer to post this chapter. I have no patience whatsoever. **

**I put in a disclaimer in the first chapter, but I forgot to put in a claimer: Annabella Rednamalas and Naeva are mine! ALL mine! Muahaha! Other than that, I own squat.**

Chapter IV: The Dream

With Yumi, Aelita, Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie

The group of teens watched the new student leave the building. "I don't trust her," declared Jeremie and folded his arms across his chest. "Why not?" demanded Aelita. "Well," responded Odd through mouthfuls of food, "she's too quiet, and she never smiles."

"Hey, have you guys noticed how hot it is out there?" Yumi asked while fanning herself with her hand. "Yeah," Ulrich answered, "Now that I think about it, it really was. This is some pretty strange weather for March." "Maybe it's a XANA attack," Jeremie said with a worried expression on his face. "Geez, Einstein, you're starting to go paranoid," teased Odd. Aelita gave Odd a stern look and said, "Maybe Jeremie's right. But for now, I think we should just wait to see if it passes. It might just be one of those funny weather patterns."

Yumi gazed thoughtfully out the window. "You know, Jeremie, I think we should give Annabella a chance. I mean, she's new, and she has no friends. Maybe she's just shy." The rest of the teens sat in silence, pondering over the matter, while Odd wolfed down the remainder of his dinner and belched so loud that it rattled the windows.

Yumi stood up. "I'd better go before my parents call the police or something. See you guys later!" Ulrich also got to his feet. "I'll walk you home."

The two walked to Yumi's house in silence, just merely enjoying each other's presence. Yumi broke out into a sweat. _Why is it so hot out here?_ she wondered. They arrived at Yumi's house. "Well, see you tomorrow, Ulrich!" Ulrich opened his mouth as if to say something, but he closed it and shook his head. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." He turned quickly and sprinted back to Kadic.

_Ulrich, you moron, why can't you just tell her?_ Ulrich stopped and took in his surroundings. He was at the gates of Kadic Academy. He ran towards the nearest tree and kicked it. Hard. Ulrich took out his cell phone and glanced at its luminous screen. It was 7:58. He looked up at the dorms and sighed. All of the sudden, it felt like the air was getting steadily warmer. _Uh-oh, this isn't good._ _I'd better tell Jeremie. After all, it could be a XANA attack._ Ulrich raced across the courtyard and into the cool air of the dorms.

With Yumi

Yumi watched Ulrich head back to Kadic through her front window. _I hope he'll be okay… I wonder what the temperature is._

Yumi walked casually into the kitchen and was greeted by her parents. Her little brother Hiroki was too busy playing his video games to notice. She poured herself a glass of water and took a huge gulp.

She checked the thermometer that was clinging to the outside of the window and almost dropped her glass. _31 degrees? At night in the middle of March? Something's up. Maybe it has to do with XANA. Nah, I doubt it. He just launched an attack not too long ago. I'll talk to Jeremie about it tomorrow._

**(By the way, all of the temperature measures in this chapter are in Celsius. So, 31 degrees is approximately 88 degrees Fahrenheit.)**

Back at Kadic

Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita headed back to their dorms while discussing Aelita's antivirus. "I think I've got it," said Jeremie for what seemed like the billionth time. "Are you sure?" asked Aelita. "I'm 100 positive. Besides, it's safe from XANA's reach," Jeremie reassured her. "But XANA has hacked into a lot of stuff before," Odd reminded him. Jeremie shoved his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Trust me, it will work this time."

Aelita waved goodbye as she headed toward her dorm, and the two boys walked up the stairs toward theirs. Shortly, they were joined by a thudding of footsteps and panting as Ulrich rushed up to meet them. "So, how was it?" Odd asked with a sly grin on his face. Ulrich just shrugged and said, "Ok, I guess." Odd rolled his eyes so far that they disappeared behind his eyelids, "You gotta tell her _sometime_, Ulrich. Otherwise, William will." Ulrich pretended he hadn't heard.

"Hey Jeremie, have you scanned the computer for active towers lately?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie gave Ulrich a funny look. "No. Why?" "Haven't you noticed how hot it is outside?" "Well, yes," the computer genius answered as he unlocked to door to his dorm, "It _does_ seem to be a little warm for this time of year. I'll run a superscan."

The three adolescents clustered around the computer as Jeremie started it up. Odd immediately got bored.

"Man, that thing takes forever to load," he complained as he started jumping up and down on Jeremie's bed. Jeremie gave him a stern look over the rim of his glasses, and Odd plopped down on the bed in mid-bounce.

Just then, the computer screen turned red and started beeping. "Ah, just as I thought," muttered Jeremie, "XANA strikes again!" Odd groaned and slid off the bed. "We'd better call Yumi and Aelita and get to the factory."

With Aelita

Annabella stirred in her sleep as Aelita slipped into the room. Aelita quickly changed into her pajamas and slid into her bed with a rather lumpy mattress, hoping not to wake her roommate. Aelita was drifting off into dreamland, when her mind was jolted by a scream.

Annabella's Flashback Dream

_Annabella was sitting on a pink, which was her favorite color at the time, fuzzy bean bag in her room in her old mansion. She was strumming on her acoustic guitar. Her black cat Naeva was curled up on Annabella's pink and orange silk bedspread. It was 9:00 at night. Annabella was tired, but she felt as if she had finally found her place in the world. It was a good feeling. Annabella had everything that she could ever want: A mansion for a house, her very own butler, the best friends she could ask for, her own car (although she couldn't drive yet), the latest technology, and the list went on and on. She was class president, one of the smartest people in school, the captain of the swim team, and she was basically the most popular girl in school. That day, however, had been the best day of her life. Annabella's swim team had just won the championship trophy, and her best friends had thrown a surprise birthday party for her. SLAM! "I'm home!" called her mother. "Hi, mom!" Annabella called from her room. She put down her guitar and shuffled out of the room, with Naeva in tow. Annabella walked down the richly carpeted hallway, until she got to the elevator. She pressed the down button, and the doors immediately slid open, revealing a large marble interior with mirrors on the walls. "Naeva!" she called, and the cat padded silently into the elevator. The doors slid closed, and the elevator glided smoothly to the main floor. When the doors finally opened, Annabella rushed out to meet her mother and gave her a bear hug. She looked up into her mother's face. There were lines of stress on her forehead, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Annabella wondered exactly how strenuous her job was, being a computer scientist and all. All of the sudden the phone rang. "I'll get it," said Annabella's mother, with a smile on her face. She rushed to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" Any trace of a smile that had been on her face was completely wiped out as she listened to the person speaking on the phone. Her expression grew more and more serious as the person on the other end continued. The person finished speaking, and her mother hung up. "Annabella," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, "XANA is plotting something dangerous. Go pack your bags, and meet me down here. We have to go into hiding. Please be quick about it." Annabella's insides went cold. She didn't have a clue who or what XANA was, but she had heard her mother discussing it over the phone or with her father. Annabella had heard enough about it to know it was dangerous. Her mind was fuzzy with shock. A million questions were racing through her mind. She barely noticed where she was going as she headed back to her room and got out her duffle bag. Annabella rushed around and made sure all of the necessary things were packed up before she packed anything else. She drifted over to the shelf with all of her books. Annabella longed to take them all with her but knew that they would only take up valuable space. She smiled as she picked up the picture frame with a picture of her and her closest friends. That picture had been taken earlier that day. Annabella sighed and stuffed it into her bag. "Annabella, we need to go!" her mother called over the intercom. Her stomach lurched, and she had this annoying feeling at the pit of her stomach like she had forgotten something. Of course! She picked up her guitar and gently put it back into its case. Annabella picked up the case, shouldered the duffle bag and dashed out of the room. She took the stairs this time. The lights flickered, and Annabella ran harder. She skidded to a halt at bottom of the stairs. "Mom!" she bellowed. No answer. Annabella was beginning to become frantic. "Mom!" she shouted again. Thankfully her mother came into the room. "Annabella, I have something to give you," she thrust a small plastic key-shaped thing and a note into her hand. "Keep this safe, and don't tell anyone about it, do you understand me?" Annabella nodded and put the key along with the note in her pocket. She knew she shouldn't ask questions. The lights flickered again, and they heard a small explosion coming from the basement. "We're under attack! Hurry!" her mother shouted as she ushered Annabella out the door while trying to carry three suitcases, two being full of important papers from her work. Zzzzzt! The lights went out. They were submerged into utter darkness. Annabella and her mother groped for the door in the darkness. "Got it!" Annabella's mom shouted. She shoved Annabella out the door and said in a rushed voice, "I have to go back for something. Stand back, the house is very unstable, and I don't want you to get hurt." Annabella rushed out to the street. Her mother turned and went back into the house. Then complete silence. All of the sudden, Annabella was deafened by a sonic boom and was submerged into total darkness. She screamed into the darkness._

Regular P.O.V.

Annabella sat up in bed to find that she was drenched in sweat. The only thing she could remember of the dream was the infinite darkness at the end of it. Aelita came rushing from the other side of the room. "Are you okay?" she asked with a frightened expression. Annabella nodded, "It was only a bad dream." She had said that not only to reassure Aelita, but to reassure herself.

"What was your nightmare about?" questioned Aelita. Annabella sat in silence for a moment before she answered "Uhhh, I was being chased by monsters," she lied. Aelita cocked her head to the side, "Those must have been some pretty scary monsters. It sounded like you were screaming bloody murder." For some reason Annabella felt like Aelita knew she was lying. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" Aelita questioned further. Annabella shook her head and buried her head in her arms. "No, thanks. I'm tired and I think I would like to go back to sleep. Goodnight." Aelita didn't look convinced, but she smiled and said, "Ok. Goodnight."

Annabella was having a dream about eating a giant marshmallow when she was jolted awake. _Awww maaan, that was such a good dream_. _What the heck woke me up?_ She sat up and thought she saw the door to her room click shut. She shook her head. _Probably just my imagination._ She stumbled sleepily out of bed and walked over to Aelita's.

"Aelita," she called. No answer. She tried again. Still no answer. Annabella pulled back the covers to reveal a bunch of pillows and blankets stuffed under it. She sighed and shuffled over to the door. Annabella poked her head out of it, and she thought she saw a flash of pink rounding the corner at the end of the hallway.

Annabella decided to follow it. She ran down the hallway and sped around the corner. Her heart was beating in her throat. She felt anxious, but she didn't know why.

There it was again! The flash of pink disappeared up the stairwell. Annabella followed in hot pursuit and swept gracefully up the stairs, trying to make the least amount of noise. The flash of pink disappeared behind a door to one of the dorm rooms. Annabella slowed to a walk and tried to catch her breath. She crept up to the door and pressed her ear against it. She heard voices. They were talking softly, but Annabella could still make out parts of the conversation.

"What should we do? If we try to go to the factory, we'll get scorched by XANA. What's the temperature, anyway?"

"38 degrees.**(102° F)** Besides, we can always go through the door in the janitor's closet."

Annabella's heart started beating faster. _How do they know about XANA? Agh, I've heard that name before, but I just can't place it._ The sound of that name sent up a little red flag.

There was a hint of panic in the next voice, "How are we going to get to the factory?"

Silence reigned.

"I guess we'll just have to make a run for it. Hey, Jer, what time is it?"

"11:47 P.M."

"We'd better go now. If we wait for sunrise, the sun will only make it warmer."

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Yumi."

"Oh yeah."

Complete silence.

Annabella continued to think. _I know I've heard the name XANA before… I just can't place it. _Then a wave of realization crashed upon her. _XANA is the one who killed my mother! He was the one who ruined my life. She had dedicated her life to shutting him down, but it all turned out my mother's attempts were fruitless. _A flame of burning anger swept over her. Annabella vowed to get revenge if it was the last thing she did.

All of the sudden, the dorm door swung inward, and Annabella fell flat on her face. The Lyoko gang started in shocked silence. She had been caught.

**I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter… I had tons of fun writing it! Please, please, Please, PLEASE review! **


	5. Confessions & a Side Order of Confusion

**Yaay! New chapter! Wow! I almost passed out when I saw how many reviews there were. (I figured out what was causing the spacing problem: It was fine on Microsoft Word, but when I uploaded it up onto Fanfiction, for some reason it took out some of the spaces.) Sorry it took so long to post this… School has been extremely stressful, and this is the first break I've had in awhile to update my story. I _think_ this is going to be one of the last chapters. The end is drawing near, my dears! So sit back, relax, and enjoy!**

Chapter V: Confessions With a Side Order of Confusion

The Lyoko gang continued to stare as Annabella picked herself up off the ground. Her face turned cherry red as she stammered, "S-s-sorry…"

"Hey, you were spying on us!" accused Odd. His expression was fierce. _How much of our conversation did she hear? _he wondered.

Before anyone had the chance to ask the spy any questions, Yumi popped her head around the doorway. "Sorry, guys, my mom was up watching her soap operas, and I had to wait until it was over before I could sneak out. So… What's the XA--" Then she spotted Annabella and clamped her mouth shut. She gave Jeremie a questioning look, but he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Annabella, _what_ are you doing here?"

"Well, I… I…" She looked around the room for support, but all she found were angry and irritated glares. "Well…?" prompted Ulrich.

"I KNOW ABOUT XANA!" Annabella blurted. Aelita gasped, and Jeremie fell out of his chair. "WHAT?" demanded Odd and Yumi. Ulrich just turned pale. Jeremie floundered, "But… but… How could you…" as he picked himself off the floor.

Annabella took a deep breath and quickly explained, "My mother was apart of a group that called themselves the XANA Research Team, or the XRT for short. They devoted their lives to shutting down XANA, but they dissolved years ago. Long story short, they failed. However, my mother was on to something about this Hopper guy, and continued her research. But XANA knew that she was getting closer to finding the answer, so it…killed her along with all of her research. All I know about XANA is that it's dangerous, it killed my mother, and I'll do whatever it takes to defeat it."

No one spoke for a minute after her speech; they were processing all she had said. Jeremie thought for a moment. _Well, it's pointless to pretend that Lyoko doesn't exist…_

"Annabella," said Jeremie slowly, "did you mother ever mention anything about a place called Lyoko?"

Annabella shook her head. "No. Most of her work was kept confidential. The only reason I know about XANA and the XRT is from overhearing her conversations on the phone or with my father."

"C'mon guys, we have a XANA attack to stop!" Odd said before racing out the hall and down the stairs. The group followed him, and Jeremie softly called over his shoulder to Annabella, "You might as well come with us. We can use all the help we can get."

Annabella hurried quietly down the corridor to catch up with the rest, but Yumi pulled her behind the group.

"Listen, about your arms… Your father…" Annabella smiled grimly and rolled up her sleeve. "You mean these?" she asked pointing to the scars and bruises on her right arm. Yumi nodded, wide-eyed. "Yes, my father hated me, but he would never abuse me. I got these the night my mom died." Annabella knew Yumi was too polite to ask questions, so she continued, "You know how I mentioned that XANA killed my mother?" Annabella quickly explained the phone call her mother received and the flickering lights and how they had tried to evacuate the house. "My mother pushed me out the door, and said she had to go back for something… Probably something to do with her research… Anyway, I ran to the curb, and well… the house exploded. I tried to protect my face with my arms, and they got bruised and scarred. It wasn't such a good idea to wear short sleeves that day, huh?" She held up her right arm again. "I have XANA to thank for these."

Yumi averted her eyes to the teens walking ahead of them who had just reached the double doors that opened out into the quads.

"I-I'm sorry," apologized Yumi, "That must've been terrible."

"It's okay," Annabella muttered. Suddenly, her face brightened. "I'll race you down the stairs! Last one there is a XANA minion!" She laughed as she took off down the stairs, four at a time, while Yumi tried desperately to keep up. They were halfway down the stairs, with Annabella in the lead, when all of the sudden Yumi lost her footing and fell over the stair railing.

Ulrich looked up just in time to see Yumi fall over the banister. "YUMI!" bellowed Ulrich. He raced over and dived onto the floor in attempt to catch Yumi. "Yumi, I got yo---OOF!" Ulrich got the wind knocked out of him as Yumi landed on top of him. Ulrich was desperately trying to catch his breath, and Yumi tried to stand on her wobbly legs. The two teens were too stunned to speak as they both tried to get over the shock of the fall.

They both were blushing madly as Yumi helped Ulrich off the floor. The rest of the group just stood in suspended silence.

Ulrich cleared his throat and Yumi muttered, "I… Er… Thanks." They stared at the floor, at the ceiling, anywhere but each other. Aelita and Annabella giggled and Odd made a coughing sound that startled the two teens out of their reverie. "Are you two lovebirds coming or not?" Odd demanded. That only made Ulrich and Yumi's faces bypass cherry red and go straight to maroon. "WE'RE NOT LOVEBIRDS!" They bellowed at Odd.

"Ok ok, geez you guys… I was only kidding…"

Jeremie tapped his foot impatiently. "C'mon you guys, we have a XANA attack to stop, remember?"

As soon as the group was outside, they felt like they were in an oven. "Question," Aelita panted, "How are we going to make it to the factory, let alone the manhole?" Ulrich pondered for a moment, with sweat dripping down his face. "We'll just have to run for it." The group nodded in agreement, turned toward the forest, and started sprinting towards the manhole, with Jeremie bringing up the rear. When they got to their destination, even Odd was panting too hard to talk. The temperature was unbearable. Ulrich leaned heavily against a tree. He looked very pale and washed out. Yumi's fall had really sapped the strength out of him. "I… don't think I can make it to the factory…" Jeremie groaned. "Ulrich, come on, you HAVE to make it. We need you. Besides, we don't want to leave you out here, you'll get hyperthermia!" Ulrich shook his head, "I'll be fine. Just go. Xana is getting stronger by the minute. If we waste any more time, nobody will be able to get to the factory."

It was considerably cooler down inside the sewers, but it was still too warm for comfort. They sped through the underground passageways until finally they reached the factory, crossed the bridge, and crammed into the elevator.

"Aelita, Odd, and Yumi--you know what to do," said Jeremie. He turned to the remaining teen. "Annabella--come with me."

When the elevator doors opened, Jeremie and Annabella stepped out into a large room with a high ceiling that disappeared into darkness. There was a huge computer at the far end of the room, and there was a flickering holomap located in the center of the room. Annabella stared around the room with large eyes as Jeremie climbed into the computer chair. She watched as the chair swiveled and zoomed toward the computer. "Come over here," called Jeremie. "This," he explained, "is the supercomputer, and it connects us to Lyoko." He quickly explained what Lyoko was, and all about the evil virus XANA that inhabited it.

"Okay, Jeremie, we're in the scanner room!" said Odd over the speakers.

Jeremie nodded as he punched in a few keys on the keyboard. "Okay, the tower is in the desert region. I've got the coordinates set. Ready? Transfer Odd. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita." More typing. " Scanner Odd. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. VIRTUALIZATION!"

Odd P.O.V.

I felt the usual prickling of my skin as lights flashed all around me. And then… THUD! I opened my eyes. Around me was the vast expanse of Lyoko. I watched as Yumi and Aelita virtualized on my right.

"The tower is due north," came Jeremie's voice. "Right," I said, "Let's go."

After a few minutes of searching, the tower was spotted. "There's the tower!" exclaimed Aelita.I followed the direction her finger was pointing and sure enough, there it was in all of its XANA-fied glory. The strange thing was, there was not a monster to be seen.

"Hah! It looks like XANA chickened out on us!" I said while striking a muscle-man pose. "It's probably a trap," Aelita pointed out. She was probably right. "Well," sighed Yumi, "we can't stay here forever."

PSHEWT! I ducked just in time as a laser shaved off the tip of my hair. Yumi and Aelita fell into a fit of laughter. "HEY!" I bellowed, turning around only to find a krabe. "You'll pay for that!" _Ready… aim… _"LASER ARROW!" Yes! It hit the target. I ducked as the krabe exploded into a million pieces. "Yes!" I shouted while punching the air. "Nice work," said Jeremie's voice, "But be careful, Odd, there are five more behind you." I turned in time to see a krabe's laser heading in my direction, and then darkness.

With Jeremie and Annabella

"Oh no!" cried Jeremie. "Odd got de-virtualized! Annabella, you'll have to go in for him!" Annabella waited patiently as Jeremie typed in a seemingly long and complex code. Just then Odd entered the room. "Sorry Jeremie. I did the best I could." Jeremie nodded. "Okay, you're all set to go Annabella." She nodded as he continued, "Go down three floors to the scanner room. I will direct you over the speakers from there."

Annabella really wanted to help, but she was unsure of getting into the scanners. She was terribly claustrophobic, and she probably wouldn't be much use to Yumi and Aelita anyway since she didn't have any experience. Annabella thought for a moment, and suddenly, she got an idea. She quickly devised a plan. It would help the gang, but they wouldn't know it at first. _It's time to play hooky…_

In the Scanner Room

"Okay, Annabella," said Jeremie's voice in the scanner room. "Step into the empty scanner." No response. _She's probably just nervous,_ he reasoned. "Okay, now the doors will close, but don't be afraid. Ready? Transfer Annabella. Scanner Annabella. VIRTUALIZATION!"

Back with Jeremie

"Hey, you guys, is Annabella with you?" asked Jeremie into his headpiece.

Uncomfortable silence. "Well… Uh…No," said Yumi. "WHAT!" cried Jeremie. "SHE'S NOT THERE! Odd, go check the scanner room! Hurry, now, you hear!" Odd quickly stepped into the elevator and disappeared behind the descending door. "Yumi and I have almost reached the tower," Aelita stated. "Good work," praised the genius sitting at the computer. "Odd? Have you found her yet?"

"Hey Jeremie," came Odd's voice from the scanner room, "I hate to break it to ya, but Annabella has disappeared."

**So, how did you like it? Ergh, my internet wasn't working, so I couldn't post this right away… -curses terrible internet connection- Many thanks to Xanarific and tinkerbellbbt for the supportive reviews! I really appreciate hearing your input!**


	6. A Puzzling Puzzle

**Hooray! My first update in about nine months! Now you can stop threatening me with pointy objects! -gasp- I'M SO SORRY!!! I APOLOGIZE FOR THE DELAY!! I AM A SORRY EXCUSE OF AN AUTHOR!!! -hangs head in shame- -cough- Anyway, I would like to thank Lily Brown for sticking with being my editor, and I would also like to thank my faithful readers for nagging me to get a move-on. P Okay, enough blabbering.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Code: Lyoko, any of the characters, blah, blah, blah. I wish I did, though. Annabella is mine, however. Bwahaha!**

Chapter VI: A Puzzling Puzzle

Odd paced impatiently behind the boy at the giant computer. Sweat trickled down Jeremie's neck as his fingers flew over the keys. He desperately hoped that Annabella was still on Lyoko, maybe in a different region or somewhere where he could easily retrieve her, but he knew deep down that it was no use.

"ARGH!" Jeremie shouted as he pounded his fists down on the keys. He knew he had lost. He had failed. He had lost someone who he barely knew, yet he still felt extremely guilty. _How am I going to explain this to Principal Delmas? He wouldn't believe me even if I told the truth… Nobody would._ Jeremie was about to double-check in a desperate attempt to find Annabella when he suddenly heard Aelita's voice flowing in through his headphones. _"Tower…deactivated."_

Jeremie and Odd simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief. Even in the control room, they could already feel the temperature drop. _Well, we stopped XANA before anyone or anything got seriously damaged…And if Annabella is lost in Lyoko, there's no way we can bring her back…even with a return trip,_ Jeremie thought as he quickly virtualized everyone back to Earth. "Welcome back, everybody!" he called over the speaker into the scanner room. He was greeted by grunts of yeah's and whatever's. When Aelita and Yumi rejoined Odd and Jeremie in the computer room, nobody spoke. They just stood there, all realizing what had happened. Then it hit them like a truck full of bricks.

"ULRICH!" Yumi screamed. "We left Ulrich out there by himself!"

The group raced into the elevator and frantically pushed the up button. When the elevator door creaked open, Aelita, Yumi, Odd, and Jeremie raced out of the factory, threw open the manhole cover, raced through the maze of sewers, and breathlessly backtracked to where they had left Ulrich. No Ulrich.

"Oh no!" Odd moaned. "First Annabella goes missing in action, and now Ulrich?! What are we gonna do?"

Yumi beckoned as she hollered, "Come on! We gotta find him, now, you hear?" to the others as she turned and ran towards the school. Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita struggled to keep up with Yumi as she sprinted towards the school. They dashed through endless mazes of hallways until they came to the infirmary.

"He's… gotta… be in… here…" Yumi panted between breaths. She pushed open the door, and sure enough, on the bed farthest away from the door, lay Ulrich. Even in his sleep, his peaceful face was burning with fever. Yumi gasped as she lay a hand on his forehead, and a tear leaked out from the corner of her right eye, which she quickly wiped away. "I—I didn't know… I thought… he would be okay… I knew I shouldn't have let him… stay by himself… It's all…my fault…"

Aelita placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Yumi, don't blame yourself. He'll be fine. You've had a rough night. We all have. You should go home and get some sleep. I know you're distressed right now, but we can't risk another illness in the group."

Yumi wouldn't budge that easily. "But Annabe—"

"Let Jeremie, Odd, and I worry about Annabella's situation, okay?" Yumi didn't look convinced, but she let her shoulders droop anyway.

She nodded. "I guess you're right…" Yumi sighed and looked once more at Ulrich's flushed face before following the others out the door.

"Come on," Odd whispered to the group once they left the infirmary, "We don't want to get caught by the nurse… or Jim for that matter, even though he's probably snoring at a billion decibels right now."

The four silently left the infirmary, and when they reached the courtyard, Yumi bid them goodnight and started for home. "Call me if Ul—…" Yumi hesitated. "Call me anything happens," she said over her shoulder. Then she was gone.

As soon as Aelita reached the room she once shared with Annabella, she flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. _What are we going to do? _She checked her watch. The luminescent face read 3:23 A.M. Aelita sighed and sat up, and her eyes rested on Annabella's pillow. There was a piece of paper folded up on top of it. _That's weird… Why would she leave a note on her pillow before she left to follow me?_ Aelita walked over to Annabella's bed, picked up the note, and unfolded it.

"Oh…" she muttered as she puzzled over the content of the note. All that was scrawled on the note was A.K.E.A.R.J.A. _Akearja? What nonsense is this? I'd better call Jeremie. He'll probably be able to figure it out._

A few minutes later, Jeremie was scribbling out notes on a piece of paper at Aelita's desk. "A.K.E.A.R.J.A… Hmmm… I doubt it has anything to do with Lyoko or XANA… She really didn't know that much about either of them… Wait a minute. Aelita, did she happen to mention anything to you that could relate to this?"

Aelita thought for a moment. "No… She really didn't talk much."

"Then I'm afraid to say, Aelita… that this note makes no sense whatsoever. I'm starting to doubt whether it has an intentional meaning or not." Jeremie sighed and ran his fingers through his unkempt hair. "Oh, but there _has_ to be something so blatantly obvious that I've overlooked! Why would she leave a note just sitting there on her pillow when she thought she was going to return a few minutes later?"

Aelita stood up from her chair next to Jeremie's and stretched. "Well… I'm stumped, too. Whew, it's still a little stuffy in here. Do you mind if I open a window?"

"Not at all," replied Jeremie without even looking up.

As she crossed the room, her hand brushed against the photograph sitting on Annabella's desk. _That's the picture that she was looking at when I met her…_ _I never really got a good look at that picture…_Curiosity got the better of Aelita, and with trembling fingers, she picked up the frame. _She looks so happy…It's strange that she never really talked about her friends…_Then she spotted a line of minute, neat, flowing handwriting in the bottom, right-hand corner of the picture. "Allyson, Kelly, Emma, Anne, Rebecca, Jenny, Annabella: 2006"

"JEREMIE!" she screamed. "I JUST SOLVED THE PUZZLE!"

"Shhh! Not so loud! Do you want to wake up the whole dormitory?!?" Jeremie chided.

"But Jeremie, I solved the mystery! Look!" whispered Aelita excitedly as she shoved the picture in front of Jeremie.

Jeremie studied the picture. "All I see are seven ecstatic girls…"

Aelita rolled her eyes. "Look harder."

Jeremie looked at the picture for a few minutes until he spotted the writing in the bottom, right-hand corner. "Allyson… Kelly…Emma... Anne… Reb— EUREKA!" Jeremie beamed, jumped up out of his chair, and hugged Aelita, who was slightly startled by his sudden outburst. "Aelita! You _did_ solve it! Good work!"

Suddenly, Jeremie sat down again with all traces of his smile gone. "But… What does it mean?"

Aelita held out her hand. "Here, let me look at it the picture again." Jeremie handed it over, and Aelita flipped the frame over and opened the back. Another piece of folded paper fluttered out and landed on the ground. She hastily bent to pick it up. Aelita unfolded it and gasped at what she saw.

"Jeremie… I think you'd better see this…"

**Yay for cliffhangers!! Mwahaha! It was kind of a short chapter, so I apologize… I also apologize for the major delay. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap up my story in the next chapter…unless I get thumped over the head by the club of inspiration again (Which hurts by the way! )…**


	7. The End is Here, Or is It?

**I hate finals. Finals hate me. Yuck. I finally got them over with…until May, that is. Anyway, chapter seven is here! This is the last chapter of the story, but I will have a short little epilogue after this. I was listening to Evanescence while I was writing this, but I SWEAR it won't affect how the story ends… Thanks again to Lily and all of you -ahem- faithful readers.**

**DISCLAIMER: No… I don't own Code Lyoko. Hah, I wish. Annabella is MINE, though, and so is the nameless janitor!**

Chapter VII: The End Is Here… Or Is It?

Jeremie took the note from Aelita's grasp with trembling fingers and carefully read the note.

"_Dear friends,_

_Fortunately, I am not lost in the virtual void. In fact, I'm here on Earth. I'm sorry I scared you guys, but my disappearing act was quite necessary. Don't worry about making up a story for my disappearance; I've got it all under control. XANA figured out my location at Kadic, and my presence would only make his attacks stronger…XANA… it would do anything to destroy what I possess… what I think could get rid of XANA forever… a key from the past, of sorts. I've gone into hiding, but I can't tell you where, just in case this gets into the wrong hands. However, I can tell you this: I love dragons. I hope you guys are sharp enough to figure that one out, and I'm sure you will eventually. I'm sorry for sending you on a scavenger hunt. As for my possessions, I've arranged for some people to come down and retrieve them for me. I wish I could have gotten to know you all better… You were so kind to me! I promise I will never forget you. Please promise me that you won't go looking for me. Fate will decide when we will meet again. Goodbye and good luck!_

_-Annabella"_

Jeremie noted that Annabella's neat penmanship turned into a rushed scrawl towards the last few lines of the letter. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "Hmph," Jeremie grunted. "Her letter is laced with clues… yet none of them make _sense_! CURSE YOU AND YOUR RIDDLES, ANNABELLA!!!" he shouted to the ceiling. Aelita was slightly taken aback yet again by another ridiculous outburst from Jeremie.

Aelita reached for the note. "Here, let me see that again." Her eyes scanned the page. "It says here: 'However, I can tell you this: I love dragons.'" Aelita looked up. "What could this mean? She never mentioned dragons before. Talk about being totally random… I'll ask the others what it means in the morning. But for now, we need our sleep, Jeremie. Goodnight."

And with that, Aelita turned and walked out the door, leaving Jeremie still puzzling over the note.

"Hmm…" Jeremie narrowed his eyes. "Dragons… dragons… dragons… dra…" Jeremie's head drooped forward onto his desk, and he was asleep in an instant.

The next morning at the late Saturday breakfast, the group minus Ulrich and Yumi sat silently around a randomly chosen table. Nobody was hungry after last night's events. Except Odd, that is.

Jeremie let out a snort of disgust. "How can you eat, Odd, when we have a serious mystery on our hands?!"

"Uh smmm gaw yuh no fwwwrrr," replied Odd through his mouthful of food.

"So you don't know what the dragon thing is all about then?" questioned Aelita.

"Nope," said Odd after he had finally swallowed.

Aelita cast a worried glance out the window. "I sure hope Yumi know what this means… Jeremie, do you have the letter? I think Yumi should see it, too."

"Yes, I got it right here," he said while pulling the letter out of his right-hand pocket.

"Good," sighed Aelita. "Now we have to wait for Yumi to get here. I called her earlier this morning, and she said she was already on her way."

"Probably to check on Ulrich," said Odd with a sly smile, which earned him a smack upside the head from Jeremie.

"Owwww," whined Odd, "It's probably true, anyways."

"Look you guys, Yumi's here," stated Aelita as Yumi pushed through the cafeteria doors.

"Finally!" cried Odd.

"Sorry you guys," apologized Yumi as she sat down across from Aelita, "I tried to come as fast as I could. So, why did you want me to come early?"

Jeremie handed the note to Yumi. "We think you should have a look at this."

Yumi took the note and scanned it, her eyes growing wider and wider as she read the note. By the time she was done, it looked like she had two golf balls for eyes.

"Dragons…" whispered Yumi, "I remember something about dragons…"

Aelita and Jeremie leaned forward and Odd almost choked on a sausage. Suddenly, Yumi sat bolt upright in her chair.

"Yes, I remember now! It was when we first met… She was sitting under a tree and sketching a dragon. It was actually pretty good. When I told her so, she practically jumped out of her skin," said Yumi with a small chuckle. "But what do you think it has to with solving the clue. Do we even know what we're looking for, anyway?"

Jeremie and Aelita exchanged glances. "Well…" said Jeremie, "She mentioned she had a key of some sort… a key to shut down XANA. Annabella didn't really say much about it, only that she had it in her possession. If it had anything to do with the clue, I think she would have said something more."

"But I don't think it would hurt to check," stated Aelita, "Yumi, what was she sketching the dragon on?"

Yumi thought for a moment. "Well… I think she was using a sketchbook. I can't remember."

Suddenly, Jeremie stood up. "Come on, you guys. The letter said that someone was coming to pick up Annabella's stuff. If they get there before we do, we won't get a chance to get a look at her sketchbook!"

"Can I at least bring my soda?" pleaded Odd.

Yumi rolled her eyes, "Whatever, we just have to get to the dorms!"

And with that, Jeremie raced out of the cafeteria with the rest of the group in tow.

Janitor P.O.V.

My arthritis started to act up again as I finished scrubbing the last of some sticky, unidentifiable, red substance stuck to the pavement outside the cafeteria that was really starting to smell.

_I don't get paid enough for this…_

Just then, I saw four teens running across the yard and into the dorms. Really peculiar-lookin' ones, too. One looked like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket, and his hair paid for it; one was garbed all in black; one had this bubblegum pink hair, which almost hurt to look at; and the last one had round-rimmed glasses like that one fantasy book character that he couldn't quite put his finger on...

_Weird. Now, where did I leave my mop…?_

Regular P.O.V.

As soon as the group reached the room, Aelita breathed a sigh of relief to discover that it was exactly how she had left it when she departed to breakfast that morning. Yumi strode over to the chair that Annabella's schoolbag and opened the flap. Sure enough, there were some battered textbooks, chewed up pencils, and scraps of paper, and on the bottom was Annabella's sketchbook. Yumi pulled out the book and opened it to the middle page, which was blank.

_Oops, too far._

Yumi turned back a few pages, and when she got to the dragon's page, a piece of plastic fell out and landed on the floor. Jeremie picked it up of the ground and examined it closely.

"It looks like a microchip of some sort," he said, "Though it has a really strange shape…"

Odd grabbed for the chip, "I wanna see it!"

However, Jeremie was too quick, and he held the chip high over his head so it was out of Odd's reach. "Not on your life, Odd. This microchip could be the key to getting rid of XANA!"

Odd wouldn't be shaken off so easily. "Come on, Jer, I wanna see it!" cried Odd as he made another grab for the chip.

The group watched the whole scene in slow motion. Odd snatched the chip away from Jeremie, but Odd lost his balance and spilled soda all over the floor with the chip landing right in the middle of the puddle.

"ODD!!!" screamed Jeremie. "YOU RUINED OUR ONE AND ONLY CHANCE TO DO AWAY WITH XANA FOREVER! I hope you're happy, _Odd_!"

Odd stared down at his shoes. "Sorry," he squeaked.

"No, _sorry_ isn't going to cut it," Jeremie fumed, "I spend most of my time figuring out how to stop XANA, and when it's handed to me on a silver platter, YOU just _had_ to ruin it!" Jeremie turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. The three remaining just stood in silence.

"Jeremie!" shouted Aelita as she ran out of the room after the frustrated Einstein.

Yumi glanced towards the door. "I, uh… I'd better go check on Ulrich… you know, to see how he's doing," said Yumi while walking backwards towards the door.

"Then, I guess I'd better clean this up," sighed Odd as he stood up and followed Yumi out of the room to retrieve some paper towels from the nearby restrooms.

As soon as Yumi rounded the corner out of Odd's sight, she started running. Yumi had to get there as fast as she could.

_I hope he's awake_, she thought as she skidded to a halt in front of the infirmiry. Just as Yumi placed her hand on the handle, she felt it turn, and the door swung open. As she looked up, her dark brown eyes met a pair of chocolate brown ones.

"Oh, Ulrich, I'm so glad you're okay!" Yumi shouted as she embraced the incredibly startled Ulrich. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you would… you would…"

Ulrich pulled away and grinned, "It's alright. I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Yumi smiled and punched him in the arm. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" scolded Yumi. Ulrich scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

"Come on," said Yumi before grabbing Ulrich's hand and dragging him along the corridor, "We'd better round up the rest of the gang and let them know that you're alright."

The pair raced down the hallway, through the courtyard, and into Jeremie's room, where they found a very depressed Jeremie, slumped over in his computer chair with his face in his hands. Yumi walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Jeremie?"

Jeremie sighed and shook his head, "I'm such an idiot," he moaned. "Idiot, idiot, idiot, IDIOT!" He paused. "Well, Aelita was trying to console me, but because I was so angry that our one and only chance to destroy XANA completely and to have a normal life again was gone, I took it out on Aelita… So, she got angry, too, and left."

Ulrich raised an eyebrow and asked, "So instead of going to apologize, you are just going to sit here forever, mentally torturing yourself?"

Jeremie sighed and stood up. "No… I guess not. I'd better go find Aelita and apologize."

"Good idea," commented Yumi, "Ulrich and I will check on Odd so that he won't commit suicide… You really let him have it, Jer. Let's meet back at Aelita's dorm in five minutes, okay?"

"Fine," called Jeremie over his shoulder as he left the room.

As soon as Yumi and Ulrich collected Odd from Ulrich and Odd's shared dorm room and Jeremie had found Aelita sitting on a bench outside and apologized, the five met in Aelita's dorm as promised. Odd collapsed on Annabella's bed, and Jeremie and Aelita parked themselves on Aelita's bed. Yumi leaned against the doorframe, and Ulrich sat on top of Aelita's desk.

"Odd," Jeremie faltered, "I… I'm sorry. I guess I overreacted."

Odd sat up and smirked, "It's okay. I should have controlled myself better. Anyway, it _is_ my fault that the microchip got soaked."

Yumi straightened from her slump against the doorframe. "Well, now that we've all apologized to each other… What now?"

Ulrich slid off his desk and strolled over to the window. "Hey, what's this?" he asked while peeling a pink sticky note off of the recently cleaned window. "It says: I scheduled a return trip, but you won't remember a thing. It's better that way in the end."

The group stood in shocked silence, and Aelita rushed to look out the window. She could see the white washing over the top of the trees, and it was heading towards Kadic. Aelita's green eyes glanced back to look at the rest of the group. "Get ready for a return trip to the past!"

Then, the group was blinded by a bright, white light as it poured over Kadic Academy and sent the universe back in time.

**Well, there you have it, and that's where my story ends (although there'll be an epilogue which I will post shortly after this chapter). I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks millions again to Lily.**


	8. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko. The only character I own is Annabella…**

Epilogue

Two years had passed since the group's return to the past, and they didn't remember anything at all about Annabella, the heat attack from XANA, or the microchip. Annabella had successfully managed to talk her father out of making her go to Kadic, and she attended a local public high school instead.

It was a surprisingly warm Saturday in the middle of March, and the five friends had snuck out of the grounds for a well-deserved ice cream at a local ice cream parlor.

Odd leaned over the counter to wait for the cashier to return to her post. The other four were saving a table across the room. He looked back and winked at them as the girl came back to get Odd's order. She had a fiery red braid running down her back and bright green eyes that widened in surprise when she looked at Odd, but she quickly wiped her face clear of emotion.

_Geez, she's really tall. Pretty, though, in a weird sort of way_, Odd thought.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

Odd glanced back at his friends before placing his order. "One small strawberry shake, one banana split, two scoops of chocolate in a dish, one scoop of vanilla in a dish, and five scoops of cotton candy on a cone, please."

The girl was slightly bewildered at his last request, but nodded as she complied to his requests. She handed Odd the cone and put the rest of the orders on a tray.

"That will be $10.52, please," said the redhead. Odd nodded as he pulled a wallet from his back pocket with his free hand and miraculously wrestled out a ten dollar bill and fifty-two cents.

"Do you need help carrying those back to your table?" she asked.

Odd shook his head and grinned. "I got it."

As Odd turned away from the counter, the girl grabbed his arm. "Wait, what's your name?" she asked.

"Oh. I'm Odd Della Robbia, but you can call me Odd," said the fifteen-year-old, "Nice to meet you, um…"

"Annabella," the cashier interjected.

"Ah. Nice to meet you, Annabella. Well, see you around."

The boy walked back over to his friends who were eagerly waiting for their frozen treats.

Annabella headed for the storeroom, shut the door behind her, and plopped down on an upturned bucket that had once held cleaning chemicals. She stared at the naked light bulb that was dangling from a wire attached to the ceiling.

"They really don't remember, do they?" she whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek.

**Alas, it is finished. I'm sorry for the depressing ending… but I don't like writing happy endings because when _I_ write them, they turn out to be really cheesy more times than not.**


End file.
